is it all in the mixing?

no; solution to something that sounds bad is to re-record it perhaps after tuning the instrument (if it can be tuned)

a) because you have not qualified what about it makes it bad we have to assume that there is something wrong with the playing
b) bad/poor tuning can lead to poor intonation (playing the right notes with the right central pitch/frequency)
c) some players can only ever play with poor intonation as they have not yet developed their ear sufficiently to hear when they need to lip up/down, move their finger up/down a string

double tracking a bad part will only make it seem less bad because of the inherent timing and intonation differences leading to flanging and chorusing similar to what unison fx units provide
 
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In my experience the best you can hope for is a rough 10% improvement from the mix but essentially one of the biggest misconceptions amoungst guys who are starting out and one I'm sure we've all had is " We can fix it in the mix" YOU CAN'T.

really during the writing stages if your picking great parts to play according to what the arrangement needs and your sounds are ones that stylistically work and sound great to your ear it should sound 90% done by the time you finish the arrangement/writing portion. It should sound good enough really that you would be happy to put it out just like that.

This is something I certainly struggled with for years before It finally twigged one day. As someone said above shit in = shit out. Be brutal in your sound selection this is a skill that is not discussed nearly enough. I will literally go through hundreds of kick samples to find just one which I think is strong enough to make it into my own library. The large majority of synth presets are reasonably good sounds but you want incredible. Think of it this way when ever you pick a sound think " COULD I PICTURE THIS BEING IN A RECORD ON RADIO" YES it's something to consider keeping. NO Throw it away and keep going. Hope this helps.
 
For me, i would go with Composition, Recording, and Mixing. If the song is good, mastered or no mastered it will be hit. Mastering its require for business purposes. If you have a good sounding song, good mix, and good frequency range. You just gently add a maximizer(L2 by wave) to fill up the blank, if you like it loud or normal its on you. Some Mastering engineers get scare to EQ a song that is mixed right, and have the right Frequency range. some of them just find something to do and add Reverb, and a Limiter because song are sent to them -6db or -3db max, which is the space given by the engineer so the Master Engineer can add EQ if it needs without distort the frequency. Others just like to play with it and **** shit up. Don't Stress you head too much cause your song need mastering. Focus on Composition, Recording, and mixing. once you are signed with a label they will take care of mastering and all the charges because it's for business purposes.
 
is the best way to mix then simply by listening to music at low volume and if you can "feel" it without being loud to "feel" it is a good way to "train" the ears in hearing "everything" even at such low volumes? I think I read the same information somewhere but any input is appreciated as well. How do you mix?
 
Late to the thread, but everything has significance. Guys like Lil Jon, Dr. Dre, EVEN SCOTT STORCH made careers out of keeping things simplistic and letting the mix work it's magic.

But the more you have going on, the better the mix HAS to be. If not, no one's gonna respect the "complex clutter" that can't be deciphered.
 
Definitely not all in the mix. It not "all in the" anything really.. like most people have said each stage plays its part in the overall product. But with hip hop and EDM I think the majority of the magic is str8 up the talent of the producer. Talented producers know which sounds, sound good, and how to program them to get "bounce." If the producer is talented then the mix is really just to clean things up.. not to make an ok track good.
 
I'm going to say something here, that if you can get your mind around, you will be become the best mixer you can be. You want to know how to mix?? Or the best way to learn to mix?? Well, I tell you...

The easiest, fastest, most reliable way is to determine what is great to you!!! Read that again... This means, make a decision on what you think is good or great right now! To do this, take the options you now know...For example, do you like bright mixes or darker mixes? Do you like punchy sounding, compressed snare drums, or do you like the more natural sounding ones? Do you like vocals to in your face or do you like them to sit back in the mix? Do you like your guitars to be wide panned, or do you like them more centered?? You see where I'm going here?

From there, you practice/experiment with putting these elements together by way of arrangement and mix, in a way that you like. This is not as long of a process as you may think, though it will take some time. But then again, mixing takes time for pros and amateurs alike!

Now to do all this, you have to not be afraid to be yourself and trust what you like! Read this again also... This means, for example, Chris Lord-Alge, Dave Pensado, Marcella Largo, etc. etc. etc... cannot, I repeat, CAN NOT tell you what good sounding kick drum is!!! Read this again too... These mixers/engineers can only tell you what a good sounding kick drum is TO THEM!! See the difference here?? I believe all of them will admit to this truth.

You have to decide on what is good to you and not be afraid to go with it. Now realize, what is good to you is ever changing, so what's good to you now may be totally different than in a years’ time, because your knowledge and tastes will change. This is called growth, evolution. Let yourself grow and evolve as a mixer that has his own tastes. Otherwise, all you will ever be doing reading forums and listening to the "top" mixers and trying to implement or mimic what they do. The sad truth of this is, you will never achieve being a carbon copy of (or get a mix like) any of the big names in mixing! There is only 1 John Schepps, for example… as there is only one you!!! I hope you understand this and it helps…

Terence
 
dillod said:
It's always a combination of things, you can't really generalize it like that. But yeah, having a good sound engineer is super vital to the sound.
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I agree with you

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